Growl 'n Hiss
by White Rose of Wutai
Summary: Prompt: any pairing, dogs start barking at each other in the vets waiting room. (altered slightly because Gavin has a cat) Rooster Teeth. Meg Turney/Gavin Free, Meg/Gavin, TurnFree First meetings.


'Its okay baby, yes it is, yes it is! Just a widdle itty bitty check up, yes, that's all, that's all it is!'

Penny whined, looking up pleadingly from her owners lap. Meg felt a stab of guilt as she met the dachshund's puppy-dog eyes. She knew Penny absolutely despised going to the vets, but it was, of course, necessary once in a while.  
She petted the tiny dog, running her fingers through the tufts of fur around her scruff; attempting to sooth her jitters. Penny whined again, but wagged her tail half-heartedly, grateful for the contact.  
Meg looked around the veterinary surgery's waiting room, becoming slightly impatient. They had been there for almost an hour, and seen countless other owners and pets come and go in that time. Currently, aside from herself, there were 4 people, three parakeets, two snakes, a white mouse and an extremely chilled out tabby cat in the room. Usually Penny would have found another dog to play with during the wait, but today the only other dog had been a huge -albeit adorable- chocolate lab named Rebel, which Penny has cowered away from.  
Meg had hoped she would try to socialise with some of the other animals, but so far she had not, not even with Ray; the playful bunny rabbit who's owner (Joel) Meg had passed a happy 15 minutes chatting with.  
She sighed and stretched, shifting Penny's weight in her lap slightly, absent-mindedly stroking the small dogs ears. By the looks of it, they were going to be here a while. It appeared that one of the two vets was out sick, and the remaining one was training a handful of students today, so procedures were moving more slowly than usual.

Suddenly there was a loud bang, as the door slammed, and a new pet owner entered.  
Meg looked up in time to see the man wince at the loud noise he had created.  
'Sorry! Sorry all, I didn't realise it would slam like that!'  
She raised her eyebrow in surprise; his accent was unmistakeably English. Her gaze caught his attention, and he grinned at her, raising his hand as if to wave, but seemed to change his mind part way, and instead ran it through his dirty blond hair, causing it to stick up at all angles. She snickered slightly at his flustered appearance, as he blushed and hurried to take a seat in the waiting area.  
It was only when he had settled down a few seats away from her, that she noticed the cat carrier in his hands. He placed it down on the floor in front of him, cooing gently at the occupant as he unhooked the door, and scooped out a tiny, straw coloured kitten. Said kitten stretched, shock itself, and proceeded to settle down in the man's lap in much the same manner as Penny was currently curled up in Meg's own.  
The two pet owners sat in silence, stealing glances at each other. Meg didn't know what exactly it was, but something about the gangly, slightly awkward Englishman intrigued her.  
'_This is really stupid. Just talk to him. Ask what his kitty's name is or something. Stop being dumb!' _She mentally chastised herself, not for the first time cursing her anxiety.  
She worked up the courage to manoeuvre herself slightly, so she was facing the man. Unfortunately, she had forgotten something.  
Penny _hated_ cats, especially kittens!  
The shift of position had opened up Penny's view of the side of the room that the newcomer was sat on.  
The low growl was the only warning Meg got before Penny leapt off of her lap, hackles raised, barking like a mad thing, glaring at the offending kitten.  
The kitten jumped onto the floor to face her, hissing and spitting in response, arching its back and puffing up its tail.  
'_SHIIIIIIIIT' _Meg and the kitten owner sprung up simultaneously and quickly moved forward to separate the two animals, but the man barrelled straight into the cat carry case and ended up sprawled across the floor.  
Meg ignored the yapping and hissing creatures in favour of helping the embarrassed man to his feet, apologising profusely for her dogs behaviour.  
Once the man was once again vertical, they managed to drag the animals away from each other; Penny clipped to her leash and secured to a bench, and the cat banished back to his box, both owners apologising repeatedly to each other, and to the rest of the waiting room, for the disturbance.  
They stood awkwardly facing each other, both blushing slightly.  
'I...I'm sorry about Penny. Again. Cats aren't her favourite critters, ahah. I hope your kitty isnt too freaked out. He's super cute, I'd hate it if Penny really upset him.' Meg babbled, rubbing the back of her neck.  
'Nah, don't worry about it love. Smee is a sturdy little thing; he's fine.'  
She raised her eyebrows questioningly. '...Um...Smee. You called your kitten...Smee.'  
'Err, yeah. It's dumb, I know, but I thought it suited him... Sorry, I'm a bit of a pleb arent I?'  
Meg was enchanted by the way the man was roughing up his hair every time he spoke. He was blatantly as nervous talking to her, as she was talking to him, and that, quite frankly, was completely adorable.  
She realised that he had not intended his question to be rhetorical, and was actually awaiting an answer. She giggled cutely before replying, flicking her auburn hair to the side.  
'No, not at all. I think you're cute. THE NAME! I think the name is cute. Smee. He's adorable.' She stuttered, mortified. _Well fucking done there Meg, you big, dumb...dumb thing. This is why you shouldn't be allowed around people.  
_The man was flashing her a brilliant, adorable goofy smile. 'You think I'm cute, huh?' he teased, enjoying how her face flushed to an even brighter pink, and she nibbled her lip nervously.  
Fortunately for her, Meg was saved from answering by being gently headbutted in the leg by a whimpering Penny.  
'Awww, what is it sweetheart? Whats the matter Little Lady, hmm?' She cooed, squatting down to attend to the whining dachshund.  
Blood was dripping onto the floor from a gash on Penny's face.  
'FUCK! Your fucking demon fluff ball cut my dog!'  
The man started as Meg rounded on him, clutching Penny to her as she furiously inspected the wound.  
'What!? MY demon fluff ball? It was YOUR bloody dog that started it; barking at poor little Smee like that! Of course he would be scared and try to defend himself!'  
'Penny would NEVER attack him! Sure she was barking, but she wouldn't have hurt your cat! Who calls a cat _Smee_, anyway?!'  
'I do, clearly! And you said it was cute!'  
'It _is _cute, but its still dumb!'  
'You also said I was cute.'  
'You are cute, but you're still dumb!'  
'I think I should give you my number!'  
'Well I think I should give you mine too!'  
'I like that idea!'  
'Good!'  
'Good!'  
The two stood staring at each other, having moved closer than they realised during their argument.  
'um...I'm Gavin, by the way. Gavin Free.' He offered his hand for her to shake.  
'Meg' smiled Meg, taking it 'Wait. Gavin Free? As in, Gavin from the Slo Mo Guys?'  
He flashed her the wonky smile again 'The very same.'  
'I KNEW I recognised you!' Meg grinned 'Your channel is awesome, haha.'

'PENNY TURNEY, PLEASE.' the nurse called, poking her head round the procedure room door.

'Well, guess we're up, Penny pup!' Meg scooped up her dog, untying her from the bench. 'Nice to meet you, Gavin. Text me sometime, yeah?' she beamed at him, making to walk away.  
'Wait, I haven't got your number yet.'  
'Woops!' Meg flushed, turning back and grabbing Gavin's phone from him. She entered her number quickly, and handed it back to him with a shy smile.

He watched her walk away, slightly bemused as to how he managed to pull at a vets, of all places, with his kitten assaulting the girls dog, him falling over his own cat carrier and generally making a giant arse of himself.

'Mr Free?' The receptionist was trying to get his attention.  
'Yes, thats me. Sorry, was in my own little world then, haha. Am I next?'  
'Not exactly, I was just wondering what you're doing here? Did you need an emergency appointment?'  
'Errr' Gavin furrowed his brows in confusion 'no? I booked Smee an appointment about four months ago.'  
'The only appointment I can see for Smee Free here is booked for next week...'  
..._Bugger._ Well, at least Meg had already gone in, and didn't see that.  
'Wow Gavin, good job there.' Meg was standing in the doorway, Penny's check up having had finished, holding a bottle of antibiotics for her cut, with a smirk on her face.  
'...Damn it.'  
'So, Goofball Free, wanna go grab a cup of coffee, or do you have another appointment to get to a week early?'


End file.
